Ninja Gaiden
by BlackRoseKai
Summary: Have you ever wanted to change the world? What would you do to save the people you care the most about? Fight the devil or become one? SasukeXOC
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys! This is my first Naruto fanfiction that I've posted here on . I wrote this ages ago (there's more on that on the after notes). It's probably my longest running fanfiction because I started it when I was roughly twelve years old or so. Kai Tetsaiga is definitely my most loved OC for Naruto.**

**I hope everyone enjoys and your reviews are very much appreciated but remember:**

**Constructive Criticism _NOT_ Destructive. **

**Let's help not hurt.**

"Kai," Master Jiraiya said softly, like loud noises would shatter me. I kind of felt like they would. "They approved your return to the village."

I pulled my eyes away from the view outside of the window to look at him. "Let's do it then," I said, slowly rising to my feet.

"Are you sure you're ready?" he asked.

"Has anyone ever cared if I was ready for anything?" I commented as I shoved my feet in my boots. "But I am this time. I've got things to do."

We left the white two story plantation house and headed home. The house had been my healing quarters for the last few months. The peaceful prairie had been very therapeutic but it was time to leave it behind.

Stepping into the village was a little surreal. I sucked in a big breath through my nose, letting the familiar scents, sights, and sounds flood my senses. It had been two very long years since I'd been in the village. That was only a painful visit then and it didn't last long. I hadn't officially been home to stay in over six years. I never realized how much I missed the place. A small grin broke out across my face.

"Are you glad to be home?" Master Jiraiya asked, smirking at me.

"It's bittersweet," I said solemnly. "I just missed my dad a lot but it'll probably be a bit before I find him. He's never where he's supposed to be."

"Who? Me?" came the smooth voice that I'd recognize anywhere. I just wasn't expecting it. It caused me to jump a little. Kakashi started laughing as I spun around to face him.

"Dad!" I said, hugging him. "You scared me! I almost had a heart attack."

He laughed lazily, giving me a hug. "Hello to you to Kai-girl."

"Well Kakashi," Master Jiraiya said. "She's all yours. Good luck. You're gonna need it."

"Oh come on Master," I said lightly, rolling my eyes at his dramatics. "You act like I'm a bad kid or something."

He raised an eyebrow at me but he didn't say anything for a moment. I looked at him innocently. Finally he sighed and said, "Like I told you, you're going to need all the luck you can get."

He gave me one last look and disappeared, probably to the hot springs to creep on innocent girls.

"Well Kai," Kakashi said, patting my head. "I suppose we should have you meet your new team. They've been waiting for me for about thirty minutes, which is a lot less time than usual but you get the idea."

"My bad," I said. "Bouncers caught us on our way back and … well you get it. Give me the low down on the team so I'll know what to expect."

"Trust me, you'll learn all you need to know as soon as you meet them." Kakashi explained. "But I will tell you one thing: They DO NOT get along."

I rolled my eyes. "Peachy. Just peachy."

-Sasuke-

_Kakashi's late again, as usual_, I thought annoyed as I sat in the tree watching for any sign of the haphazard man. _I swear, this is the most ridiculous-_ I stopped mid-rant for two reasons.

ONE: Kakashi was there – _finally –_ and TWO: he had the prettiest girl I'd ever seen with him.

I sat up a little straighter scrutinizing the girl. She had long light brown hair, almost blonde in the right light, that barely graced the top of her hips and her bangs fell just above her deep piercing blue eyes. I swore those eyes could see into my very soul. She had on a short black skirt that went to about mid thigh and a black zip up hoodie with blood red splatters on it. It was only zipped up a little and one of the sleeves hung off her shoulder so that I could see the strap of her white tank top. I swear I had either heard of her description before or seen her, or both...probably both. I'd never seen a girl so beautiful. She was more than breathtaking, intimidating too.

The girl screamed power and strength. She carried an air of confidence, more like arrogance actually, but it was clearly well earned. She seemed to know she could handle anyone she came up against.

"Well guys you're probably wondering who this is," Kakashi said in his airy voice of his, snapping me back into reality and out of my day dream. "She will be your new teammate but don't get it wrong she is NOT my student. Her name is Kai Tetsaiga. She's my daughter."

My eyes went wide and for a second, my hear stopped. _Not what I was expecting,_ I thought. Then BAM! It hit me. I knew where I had heard about that girl before. Without really thinking I blurted, "Are you the Kai Tetsaiga? The Lone Wolf of the Leaf Village?"

-Kai-

_Well they weren't expecting that,_ I thought as I stared at Sasuke, unable to answer his question, mostly because it was so extremely stupid that it had shut me down. I mean seriously, how many other fucking Kai Tetsaiga's were there?

But to my surprise, the googly eyed pink headed fan girl out dumbed Sasuke by about fifty freaking light years.

"C'mon Sasuke, look at her," Sakura said. "She's just a kid. Do you really believe she could be the Lone Wolf?"

"Well she's not a Genin and the Lone Wolf is rumored to be a Sannin," Sasuke said his resolve never faltering. He rolled his eyes at her. "And she fits the description. There's only four Sannin and the only two females are very different. One is Lady Tsunade, and obviously, she isn't fifty or so."

I snorted, covering my mouth. "Or so. The thing about Auntie Tsunade is that she never looks her age," I told them casually. "But as for your question, dumb questions get dumb answers. No, I'm not the Kai Tetsaiga. I'm the prettier twin sister."

His face hardened, his dark eyes narrowing at me. I gave him my trademark smart ass grin because the obvious annoyance on his face was humorous. It really was a talent to piss people off like I did.

"Well, you haven't introduced yourselves. Didn't you teach them manners, Dad?" I asked. Kakashi, of course, had told me their names. That had given me a bit of information about at least two of them and Sakura really didn't matter.

He sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "It's not something I can really help," he admitted. "I don't have very much luck with teaching them anything."

I rolled my eyes.

"Well, my name is Sakura Haruno," the girl said. Sakura was definitely the know-it-all type (and a Sasuke fan girl/stalker). She was a little too uppity but she had an odd muscle structure. She was extremely tone and had a little muscular structure but it wasn't the normal ninja tone. She was a dancer and a damn good one I'd wager. She did have a certain grace but she was just annoying as hell already.

I gave her the fakest smile and made it obvious too. I turned to the little annoying blonde boy, Naruto. I knew him already. He probably didn't remember me because we'd been really young and he was really stupid then and it was only in passing that we'd met. "Hey, you look like the type to never shut up and yet you haven't said anything. Do I scare you nine-" Kakashi slapped a hand over my mouth.

"You're pushing it a little _too _far, Kai," he whispered huskily. "Don't bring that up in front of those two because if you do I'll never hear the end of it. You know better."

Had I been facing him, I would have made a face but instead I shrugged him off of me. Regardless of him being my father, I didn't like being told I couldn't play games. "Anyway, what's your name?"

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki. The next Hokage! Believe it!" he said loudly with a bit too much flair. He had big dreams but it didn't seem like he had the sense equal to that of a bag of potatoes.

I resisted the urge to snort and rolled my eyes at him instead. "Ooookkaay then. Moving right along, it's your turn. Let me guess you're a Uchiha," I said to Sasuke. Regardless of me already knowing him name, it was obvious of his clan. He carried entirely too many of the physical Uchiha traits to be anything else unless he was adopted but I knew for a fact that wasn't true. I wasn't an idiot.

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha," he said giving me a smirk.

_Oh, he thinks he's going to give me a challenge. Well, that's a fighting thought there Sasuke and __I promise, I'll win in the end. I always do._

"So, what do you think of the team?" Kakashi asked as I prepared to bed down for the night, on his couch. After I'd left the village he had moved into the Jonin quarters. While he'd kept all of the important things, he didn't have an extra room.

"Well, Naruto, he's an idiot. Sakura is a know-it-all and you know how I just _love_ those types of people," I said, the sarcasm obvious in my voice as I laid a blanket over the cushions. "And Sasuke, well, he thinks he's going to give me a challenge but he won't. He's really full of himself. I can't wait to smack him down."

Kakashi laughed and rubbed the top of my head. "You haven't changed a bit Kai-girl. Not much gets past you. Been like that since you were little. Sometimes I swore you were psychic."

I laughed. "Maybe I am," I threw my hand out and grabbed my head in an exaggerated form. "Wait, wait. I think I am getting a vision!" I cried out, shutting my eyes.

"Oh! Great Kai! Tell me! What do you see?!" Kakashi said, kneeling like an avid worshipper.

"Three kids...no four...one man..." I said slowly keeping my eyes closed and then I threw on the dramatics. "They...Oh my goth! They take over the world! The all powerful and mighty Kai Tetsaiga as their leader!"

Kakashi burst out laughing even harder than he had before. I could've almost sworn to tears in his eyes. I knew there were tears in mine. After about ten minutes of laughing until I thought my heart was going to give and my sides explode I managed to gain a little control over myself. So did Kakashi. It was like being little again, having late night "camp outs" with my dad, without a care.

"Well, all joking aside," Kakashi said, returning to the serious conversation we had been having. It reminded me that I wasn't six years old without a care. "We have a big mission tomorrow and you're gonna have to see those three in action."

"Where are we going?" I asked. I'd traveled so much with Master Jiraiya in the last six years that I knew the fastest way in and out of any where. The escape routes were necessary with my perverted, egg-headed sensei.

"To the Land of Wind. Simple delivery to be honest. Very low rank junk." he told me casually, shrugging.

I sighed. "Fantastic," I said sarcastically. "What or whom are we delivering?"

"The Feudal Lords daughter," Kakashi explained flatly. "There was an emergency back at the Land of Wind and so daddy jetted off leaving the poor kid in a near by town. The Lord of the Land of Fire has been watching her and says its now perfectly safe to take her home."

I nodded. "How old is this kid?"

"Four."

I snorted and started laughing again, with more bitterness. "I don't think I can handle this mission. I hate kids. I'm no good with them."

"Yeah, you and both of the boys. Sakura is the only one who can half way handle a kid," Kakashi said.

"Not true," I retorted. "You raised me for a bit. Taught me to walk and talk with some very creative words."

He sighed. "My point exactly."

"Oi! You're late Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled angrily the next day as Kakashi came up to the gate.

"No," I said sarcastically. "I thought that we were just early!"

I heard Sasuke snort and Naruto turned slightly red in the face. I guessed he didn't like being called out on his stupidity.

"Sorry guys, I was getting our traveling companion," he stepped aside revealing a small girl.

She was tiny and blonde wearing a purple silk kimono. She cowered slightly.

"No way!" Naruto yelled causing her to jump and cower behind Kakashi. "You mean we have to take this little kid with us?!"

"No Naruto," I said. "We're supposed to stare at her for five minutes and leave her here." I said both sarcastic and annoyed. He was already really ticking me off. "I mean honestly, do you always ask obvious questions like that?"

He turned to me giving me a furious look. "Do you always have to be so sarcastic?" he asked angrily. "I mean its an all the time thing with you! Don't you ever quit?"

"That mouth of yours is already starting to annoy me! You're all talk. You can't back up anything you say and yet you continue to run your mouth! You always make a fool of yourself! Why-"

"Not the time nor the place!" Kakashi said cutting in, jumping in between us. "You're on a mission now and not only that but you're with a client."

I started to say something but Kakashi silenced me.

"I don't care if she's four or forty!" he scolded. "You're not going to fight during the mission. Feel free to kill each other when we get home."

I gave him a sour look. I was a naturally defiant type of kid so, I seriously considered telling Kakashi to butt out. He was lucky that I had more respect for him than that, if only just barely.

Naruto glared at me and I gave him a go to hell look. He didn't scare me.

"Alright, so we're heading to the Land of Wind. This is the feudal lords daughter. Her name is Yuki," Kakashi said giving us a quick run down of the situation, very simply so that the idiots among us could understand. "It'll take us about four days to get there. We have to protect and basically babysit Yuki until we get there."

I rolled my eyes, totally ready for the mission to be over so I could leave Naruto floating face down in the river.

"Everyone understand? Good. Let's go!"

That night we stopped at a hotel. Nothing eventful had happened, especially after the mornings fight. Yuki became oddly attached to both Sasuke and me. Kakashi thought it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen because it was obvious that neither Sasuke or I enjoyed the affection. Or having to carry the little brat around.

"So," Sakura said as I finally got the little runt into bed. "You seem really stressed out."

"I am and you really seem to like pointing out the obvious." I said. I was so irritated.

She turned red in the face and stared at the floor. "I-I'm sorry Lady Kai-"

"Don't call me that!," I snapped, my irritation getting the best of me, causing my voice to jump to a very loud level. "Don't call me Lady Kai ever again or I'll rip your throat off and make you eat it. Understand?"

"Uh, um, I-I'm s-sorry," she stammered, fear in her eyes.

That did it. My annoyance level turned into flat out anger and I had had enough of these bumbling idiots. If had to stay in that room for one more second I was going to commit suicide.

"I'm going for a walk. You tell anyone that I left and I'll make sure you mysteriously disappear on this trip," I warned angrily.

She just stared at me wide eyed.

I grabbed my jacket and stormed out of the room. I walked down the hall and out of the front door. I patrolled the dark deserted streets, trying to clear my head for what seemed like hours. I usually wasn't so hot headed but something about having to basically play ninja with those kids drove me up the wall.

_Man those kids are idiots! I absolutely will never get along with them! They don't understand the first thing about being ninja or about being smart human beings! They're total morons! LOSERS! IDIOTS!_

"Hey," someone's sudden voice startled me, pulling me from my angry mental ranting.

I looked up to see Sasuke. My mood darkened even worse but at the same time, lightened in a different way. "What do you want?" I nearly snarled.

He took a step back. "Um, I just noticed that you were gone and I went looking for you." he said, a light blush covering his cheeks and a nervous grin playing across his face. He rubbed the back of his neck.

"I can take care of myself," I grumbled pushing past him. "Now if like, Sakura or Naruto go missing then you should worry. I am perfectly fine on my own."

He caught up to me, giving me an annoyed look. "Do you always have to be so cynical?"

"Do you?" I retorted. "You do the same thing Uchiha. You don't like Naruto or Sakura because you think they'll slow you down. You barely tolerate my dad and the only reason you're half way interested in me is because you _think _I'm a Sannin. I see right through because I've dealt with guys like you before. You're egotistical and arrogant. You're not half as cool as you think you are and to be honest, you're not that great of a guy either! You should just jump down off of that pedestal before you get a nose bleed or I smack you off of it!" I was basically screaming by the end of my rant.

He gave me a very startled look. "Do you feel better now?" he asked, smirking slightly.

I half snorted, realizing I'd quit walking. "A little," I said, a smirk tugging at my lips as I continued on. "It's just … it's been a long day and I don't tolerate stupidity, egos, or O.C.D. girls very well."

"Wow," Sasuke said. "You must absolutely hate all of us. That must be a record for bad first impressions. I mean, I've gave a few before but I don't think I've ever been called egotistical by a girl I hardly know."

"Well get used to it because I will remind you every chance I get until you get the freaking hint. Just because every other girl like Sakura will trip all over you, doesn't mean I will," I told him sharply. "And you need to stop thinking that just because you're good looking you can get away with being a self-centered brat."

"You think I'm good looking?" he asked pausing in mid step.

I threw my hands in the air and started to storm away. Sasuke laughed and reached out and grabbed my arm. "I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I'm not trying to be a brat. I just need to get as strong as possible – really fast."

"Killing your brother isn't a good enough reason to be a total ass either," I told him sharply.

Now he looked flat out shocked. "H-how did … how did you ….?" he stammered.

I gave him a serious, heavy look. "I've seen things Sasuke Uchiha," I told him in a low voice. "I've seen things that you wouldn't believe. Things that I'm gonna havd to live with. The images are carved into my mind and I can never get rid of them no matter what I do. You're not the only one that has lost everything and is a afraid to get it all back because you think you'll lose it again. I just want you to know this about that night: you didn't see what you thought you saw. You didn't see the whole story."

His face was twisted into an expression of extreme confusion. "What …? I-I don't understand …"

"You're not supposed to. Not yet anyway," I said before disappearing.

_Wow, _I thought as I sat on top of a nearby building. I watched as Sasuke stood in a daze for a few moments and then he headed back to the hotel. _I went off and opened my big mouth and now Sasuke is going to be grilling me for information all day tomorrow! Fantastic! Now what was it that Master Jiraiya was always saying about running my mouth before I thought about what I was going to say? Uh, I'm coming up blank here...didn't he also say that I had a problem listening to him too?_

After five days, we were finally on our way home. Everything went nicely mission – wise. I was suffering from a major headache but I somehow managed to ignore the pain and continue on. The only thing I couldn't hide was the irritation that the headache left me with. Everyone was on my last nerve and I was just about ready to explode. I needed an outlet and wouldn't you know it, fate supplied me with many.

"Man I'm tired," Naruto whined for probably the millionth time that day. "How much further do we have to walk Kakashi-sensei?"

I heard Kakashi sigh. "I already told you Naruto, we aren't stopping until we reach Nohoko Town. That's going to be another two hours."

Even I wanted to groan. I started to but I sensed somebody and stopped walking.

"Um, Kai?" Kakashi said turning to look at me.

"Shh," I said, pressing a finger to my lips as I backed a few steps away from the group.

With a rush, six or seven ninja jumped from the bushes and trees and circled around me.

"You're coming with us Lone Wolf!" the lead ninja declared.

An evil grin played across my face. "Look, before you guys try to capture me I wanna warn you that I've had a bad week and really need to take out some of my aggression." I warned my voice low and daring. I clenched my fists.

None of the ninja moved. A few of them looked at the leader. Then, they attacked, trying to take me down with numbers. Well, that wasn't going to work.

It only took me about nine seconds to disable every single one of the enemy ninja permanently.

"Darn," I said when I finished, dropping the last ninja to the ground. I cracked my knuckles. "I wish that took longer. I still have so much penned up anger. Anybody else wanna fight me?"

I looked around. Naruto looked like he was going to be sick. Sakura looked bewildered. Sasuke looked slightly frightened. Kakashi, well with my father it was impossible to tell because he wore that damn mask all the time.

"What?" I asked innocently, wiping a bit of blood from my lip.

"Um … about that fight …" Naruto began but his voice trailed off.

**Finally, chapter one is complete. This is a rewrite of something I wrote ages ago for a different site (one that I owned). I was quite proud of it at the time and now I see much room for improvement. Kai was a bit Mary Sue and I think she still is at times. The main thing I want to change for her in this story is to make her less of a goddess and more of a person.**

**On a technical scale, Kai is unranked. She wasn't allowed to test to get into the Ninja Academy but she, as previously mentioned, is rumored to be a Sannin since she spent so many years training under Jiraiya.**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two has arrived! Yay!**

**Thank you for taking time to read this.**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

I was bored. I had just finished moving into my new apartment and now had nothing to do.

My father was off training with Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto. I tried to keep clear of it for the most part. They didn't know the whole story of my life but they knew that I was the Lone Wolf of the Leaf Village. I figured the less of the truth and the more of the legend they believed the better it was for everyone.

_I guess that I can go see how Kakashi's doing with those idiots, _I thought. _I haven't got to see them in action yet._

I got up and pulled on some loose extra baggy jeans and my jacket. On my way to the training grounds, I passed Asuma and Kurenai. I hadn't really seen them since I'd been back in the village

"Hey what's up?" I asked stopping. "You two on a date?"

Kurenai rolled her eyes and Asuma gave an irritated sigh. I always teased them about their relationship. As did my dad and the ever annoying Might Guy. They were going to be married eventually and everyone knew it. Even if they didn't.

"Remarkably like Kakashi aren't you?" Kurenai teased, patting my head.

"Could be worse," I joked. "I could be a lot like Master Jiraiya. And let's face it, that would be a disaster."

Asuma laughed, lighting up another cigarette.

"You still haven't quit?" I asked indignantly, my nose crinkling. "Those things will kill you one day, y'know. "

"And when they do, you and Kurenai may say, I told you so. But until then, harassing me about my smoking habit may be hazardous-"

"To your health and mental/emotional state." Kurenai interjected. "Anyway, where are you headed Kai-girl? We were about to grab some lunch before I go to meet my team. You're more than welcome to join us."

"I was on my way to finally see Squad Seven in action. Dad is supposed to be training with them. I haven't seen them in a fight yet and well, to be honest, I'm almost afraid to see them." I shook my head.

Asuma rubbed the top of my head. "It'll be okay. Everything usually works out in your favor," he promised, giving me a reassuring smile.

I giggled, brushing his hand away. "Are you trying to say that I'm incredibly lucky or that no one else is?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Asuma gave me a confused look. I started laughing.

"And that is why Shikamaru always beats you in Shogi, Asuma," Kurenai sighed, shaking her head. "We'll see you later, Kai-girl."

"Yeah. Bye."

I continued to the training grounds and was slightly disgusted by what I found. My father was, apparently, attempting to work on their teamwork skills – a touchy subject for him – and they were failing miserably. I could tell that Kakashi was getting irritated by their idiocy and their complete unwillingness to work together.

"Hey, Dad," I called, stopping the bedlam before it had the chance to start. "Why don't you let me finish up for you today? I haven't got to see these guys in action yet. Why don't you just take the rest of the day off?" I hugged him. "Before you murder someone, okay?"

Dad looked confused, in his own way. It was slightly hard to tell because of the mask. But, just like everyone else, he was unsure of my motives and worried him because I was just as lethal as he was. In the end, he caved rather quickly.

"Don't kill them. Don't hospitalize them," he said, listing off the conditions. "And finally, no making them go missing for the next four days."

"Give me some credit Dad," I said offended. "I'm not going to kill anyone. I'm just going to knock some sense into them. There will be only a little bit of violence and bloodshed. I know the costs of not working well as a team."

He knew it was true so he let it go and left.

Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto stared at me, slightly horrified. I guess the thought of fighting a rumored Sannin, even during training, scared them. Or maybe they were just scared of me. I wasn't sure.

"Okay," I sighed, sitting down on the ground. They joined me. "Before we start in on anything, I want to tell you guys a story. A story about four ANBU Black Ops. It had been an extremely long and grueling trip and they were heading back to their base. Suddenly, they were jumped by twenty enemy ninja. The captain knew that none of his teammates were in good enough shape to survive the fight so he ordered them to flee while he held the ninja off, even though he was the fastest. You see, they had some precious cargo and needed to get it to safety ASAP and not let the enemy have it. What do you think his teammates did?"

"Well run away I guess," Sakura said in a solemn voice. "I mean, that's their commanding officer for one thing and you can't fail a mission. As a ninja, we have to be ready to let others die to complete the mission. That's the most important part."

I made a funny buzzer sound. "Wrong! His teammates stayed behind. Two of them were killed protecting their commanding officer and their cargo. The remaining member, the commanding officer, got away safely and successfully got the cargo to safety. What's the moral of this story?"

The three Genin exchanged confused looks. My eyebrow twitched in irritation.

"Alright then," I said. "Allow me to spell it out for you. When it comes down to it, forget the rules. Forget all the total bullshit they tried to teach you in school. The survival of your squad makes a lot of difference. You have to work together as a team. You either die together as heroes or you live with the pain of leaving them to their death as you ran off to finish a mission that in a couple years wouldn't make much difference at all."

They continued to stare at me. I sighed exasperatedly.

"Look, all I'm trying to say is, teamwork makes all the difference. You can't be a ninja or at least a good ninja by doing your own thing. Its a lot of compromise and understanding. You either work as a group or the next day you're dressed in black watching your best friends and comrades be buried. You're having to explain to their families why you're still alive and they're not. I've seen it happen I don't wish to see it again. I mean, I don't even like you guys but I don't want to bury you any time soon. That's why Dad, Kakashi, presses so hard on teamwork. He's been there and done that. He's been through that pain and doesn't want you guys to deal with it. That's why no other team passed their entry exam before you three morons. You must have done something so think back to that day. What was it?"

I paused waiting for a response. When I got none, I rose to my feet and turned to leave.

"Hey, Kai," Naruto called. "I thought you were going to train with us for the rest of the day!"

"Forget it," I spat over my shoulder. "I have no time to waste on fools like you. If there's anything I've learned in my life is that you either learn it from those who've been there or you find out the hard way. I don't wanna be around when you find out the hard way."

I walked off. Kakashi was standing behind an nearby tree with his arms crossed in front of his chest. I stopped and waited for him to talk, without looking at him.

"Don't be hard on them Kai," he said smoothly. "That was some pretty intense stuff that you were preaching right there."

"They needed it. If they can't learn from something like that then I'll escort them back to the Academy myself." I told him, glaring a hole in the ground. "I have no time for idiots like that. I've buried enough ninja to last me a life time and I don't want to add their names on my list. I know you agree with me."

An explosion went off. I took as much of the force and blunt of it as I could but I knew there were other injuries. Many of them and hopefully, they were just injuries. My head snapped back, colliding against the ground and I was instantly knocked out.

By the time I came back to consciousness, I was in a too bright room that reeked with the disgusting stench of anti-bacterial cleaner and just too clean. As memories of what landed me there flooded into my brain, I realized how pissed off I was. I jerked straight up in bed, ripping something from my arm.

"What happened?!" I demanded, my screaming and sudden movement starling Kakashi and Master Jiraiya. "How did I get here and who's not dead?!"

They didn't seem to know which question to answer first, looking at each other and then back at me.

I glared, giving an irritated growl. "This is ridiculous! That's it I've had it with them three!" I screamed throwing my blankets to the floor. I jumped to my feet without really thinking and instantly crumpled under my own weight. I stood back up, gathering my barrings and gaining my balance. My knee was very swollen, as was my ankle. I cursed the day. Then I left the room, leaving the men in a stunned silence.

_"I have no time for morons like that. I've buried enough ninja to last me a life time. I don't want to add their names on my list."_ My own words raced through my mind reminding me of my pledge. It was one I intended to keep.

Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto were waiting out front of the Leaf Village Hospital on a bench. They looked only slightly beaten, with some bandages, bruises, and mild burns. They also looked terrified, which they should've been. I was going not only going to send them back to the Academy but I was probably kill them while I was at it. They knew that I was upset with them.

"K-Kai," Sasuke stammered. "We're-"

"What?" I snarled. "Sorry? Yeah well hate to tell you but sorry doesn't cut it. This time we all got off lucky with a few minor injuries and concussions. I'm going to have nurse this leg for the next few days. Next time I might end up in a body bag and instead of beating the living hell out of you guys I'll be in the morgue or it'll be one of you."

"Look, we know we screwed up Kai, but it was only a training mission, right?" Naruto asked his face round and nervously frightened.

"Usually that's not a big deal to mess up on." Sakura added.

"Yeah on the grounds that the team is improving!" I yelled exercising amazing self control by not smacking the two idiots. "You three MORONS are making the same mistakes over and over and over again. You're not learning anything and you don't take anything seriously. This. Is. What. We. Do. We train hard to improve but with you three idiots not even a near miss will snap you out of your only-for-me attitudes. That's why, tomorrow, I'm personally escorting you back to the Academy where you will be taught what teamwork really is until I decide that you're ready to grow up and be big ninjas."

I left them standing there without another word. I had exaggerated some of the facts a little. I wasn't sure that I actually had the power to send them back to the Academy but that seemed to be the only threat that worked and I was sure I could get the Hokage to go along with it. I really didn't have time for kids like that and no one wanted to bury them.

Rather than go home I went to the grave yard. There, buried side by side, were two of my dearest friends. Ichigo and Daisuke. They'd been on the ANBU squad assigned to protect me while Master Jiraiya was away on a secret mission. They ended up dying to protect me.

"What would you guys do?" I asked standing between them. "This was always your forte."

As usual, I received no response, but I always told myself that if one day they actually started talking back, it was time for me to quit the ninja business. I sighed, almost wishing they had talked back. I felt a million years older than twelve. Then I left, heading for home.

I was up extremely late. I hurt too bad to lay down and get comfortable. It was next to impossible I was basically killing time until I collapsed from exhaustion. I guess it was a good thing because at two thirty the next morning someone began to ruthlessly beat at my door.

I was almost afraid to open the door, believing that whatever was going on to cause such a panic wasn't something I wanted to be involved in. Reluctantly, I opened the door, only to be greeted by my father looking very freaked out.

"Dad? What's wrong?" I asked, cautiously.

"C'mon. You have to see this! Can you run?" he asked breathlessly, pulling on my arm.

"Wha?" I asked confused, planting my feet. "You know me better than this Dad. You can't just drag me to who knows where without telling me what's going on. Mysteries tick me off."

"What doesn't?" he teased. "Just trust your old man, Kai-girl. C'mon. We need to hurry or we'll miss it."

Even more reluctantly, I did the only thing I could; I followed him. He took me out the the training ground. As we drew close, I could hear the clash of kunai and the occasional shouts of Squad Seven but suddenly, the shouts died down completely.

For a moment, I silently panicked. Anyone who had known Naruto for only a few seconds knew that if he's quiet for any stretch of time something has gone horribly wrong. I soon found that that wasn't the case. They were training.

All three of them were pretty banged up and looked beyond exhausted. It made me wonder how long they had been at this. Their timing was perfect. They had rigged up the training area to an obstacle course that they've have to help each other through. Not only were they handling it with perfect precision, they were doing it all silently.

_They got it! They finally got it! _I started clapping, restraining myself from dancing in place. They stopped and looked at me.

"Good job guys. I think you finally understand the value of teamwork. Its important to work together because it makes things easier and keeps you alive," Then I dropped my voice seriously. "But, out on the field it's a lot different and much much harder because there's a lot more pressure. There's no try again laters or re-dos. Just remember that. As for now get some rest."

They shared giant, proud grins and then collapsed, unable to move any further. I grinned at my father.

He patted the top of my head. "Yeah, yeah. You did it. Good girl. You finally got through to them. I'm afraid of what you had to say to do it," he chuckled.

Someone was knocking on my door. My dad had given Squad Seven the day off to relax because when they weren't training, they were on missions. He'd figured we'd earned it. It had been almost two weeks since the breakthrough with Squad Seven. Once they got their heads on straight, they weren't really all that bad.

I opened the door. "Oh, hey Sasuke," I said, smiling a little. "What's up?"

"Um," he said, blushing, rubbing the back of his head. "I was wondering if you had any plans for the rest of the day?"

"No," I said. "Not that I can think of."

"Would you care to join me for a movie then?" he asked, a small, hopeful smile forming.

I smiled back. "Sure. Let me get my shoes on."

**So this chapter was a lot shorter and more or less of a filler chapter. Hoped everyone enjoyed. Thank you for reading and please REVIEW!**


End file.
